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“Angela Merkel has for the first time endorsed her party’s call for a partial ban on burqa and niqab in Germany, telling delegates at the Christian Democratic Union’s conference in Essen “the full facial veil is inappropriate and should be banned wherever it is legally possible”.

The German chancellor’s CDU party is expected this week to pass a motion proposing a ban on the full face veil in some areas of public life such as courts, schools and universities, as well as in road traffic and during police checks. A full ban on the facial veil, as introduced in France in 2011, is seen as incompatible with Germany’s basic laws.

Until further detail of the motion emerges, Merkel’s comments represent a change in rhetoric rather than a full U-turn: back in September, the chancellor had called for stricter guidelines on official situations where wearing a full face veil was not permissible, while also stating that “lived diversity is the logical consequence of freedom”.

In her first party address since announcing she would run for a fourth term as chancellor next year, Merkel focused on law-and-order issues guaranteed to fire up her party’s conservative base.”